Volume 7 Chapter 4

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Please listen to my selfishness

Part 1:

Recently, Onii-chan has been actingweird. To be precise, it feels like he’s always spacing out. Ofcourse, that isn’t necessarily something weird. I would be lying ifI said that it wasn’t cute, but this isn’t quite like any wayhe’s behaved before.

Even this morning, while we werewalking to school together—

“Onii-chan! Onii-chan!”

“……”

“Onii-chan! Can you hear me?Onii-chan!”

“…………Nnn? Ahh.”

“Don’t ‘Ahh’ me. What’swrong? You seem to be spacing out…”

“N-No, it’s nothing at all.”

“It certainly doesn’t look thatway… Well, if you say so. R-Rather than that, for today’sresearch—Hey, Onii-chan?!”

“…Yeah, what is it?”

“Listen to me! I wanted to talk aboutour research for today! Don’t go spacing out again!”

“Ahh, research, huh…? Sorry, I’mnot feeling up to it today, so can we skip research for today?”

“Ehh?! W-Why?!”

“Well… Just because. A-Anyway,let’s just hurry to school. We’re going to be late…”

“Ah, w-wait, Onii-chan!”

…As you can tell, this is more thanhe usually spaces out. He seems like he’s not even there, and whenwe talk, he always seems to be lost in thought. Of course, beinglovey-dovey when he’s acting like this is clearly impossible.Something this severe has never happened to him before. It almostfeels like Onii-chan is trying to avoid me—

…Uuuu! J-Just thinking about it makesmy heart ache! T-There’s no way that could be the case, right…?S-Something like that…!

I tightly hugged my pillow whilerolling around on my bed, trying to calm myself down.

…When I think rationally about it,there’s only one thing I can think of that could have causedsomething like this to happen.

The person Onii-chan likes.

I don’t want to think about it, but Ican’t allow myself to ignore it either…! So is Onii-chan actingstrange because of this person? Is he thinking only about her, andthus trying to put distance between him and me…?

“Uuuu… O-Onii-chaaaan…!”

T-That wouldn’t be good. The more Ithink about it, the more it makes me want to cry…! B-But, thisisn’t the time to be drowning in tears…! If this keeps up,Onii-chan might be taken away from me…!

Uuu…! F-For now, let’s assume thatthis is the case. Why did Onii-chan suddenly change to such anextent? To me, it seems like there weren’t any major changes aroundOnii-chan, and that’s coming from someone who watches everything hedoes. And there haven’t been any women around him—Well, exceptfor Himuro-san, Double Peace-san, Sakura-san, Akino-san, andHaruna-san… But other than them, there shouldn’t have been anynew rivals.

…I really don’t understand at all.Let’s change my way of approach… When exactly did I first noticethis change in Onii-chan? I assume that it happened the night of theday we went to Akihabara…? Then, did anything happen that wouldhave caused it? Aside from going to Double Peace-san’s home andcosplaying (which I really don’t want to remember, to be perfectlyhonest), nothing comes to mind.

“…Ahh, that reminds me. On the wayhome, I had a conversation with Kaede.”

Suddenly, I recalled that memory.That’s right. Our conversation suddenly veered into the territoryof what boys we liked. I remember panicking when Kaede suddenly askedme that.

…No, nothing comes to mind there,either. But then, why did Onii-chan suddenly change to this degree?

“…N-Now that it’s come to this, Ihave to find out the cause immediately, and try to get rid of it.”

That’s what I decided after carefulthought. Getting rid of it—Basically, showing Onii-chan my charmand making him forget completely about the person he likes.

…However, it hasn’t exactly beengoing as I wanted. Even though we should be being lovey-dovey,Onii-chan just won’t look at me, and he’s turned into such amess.

“It seems like we need to be evenmore lovey-dovey than ever before…!”

Thinking about doing this and that, Ialmost lost myself in fantasies, but I barely managed to hold myselfback.

…Is it really fine to do that? Ofcourse, I want to be lovey-dovey with Onii-chan, 24/7. However, thatis nothing more than a desire of mine. What is important right now ismaking Onii-chan forget about the person he likes, and make him lookonly at me. Just being flirty and lovey-dovey isn’t enough…

If I don’t take more radicalmeasures, Onii-chan might actually be taken away from me for real.For all of eternity.

“…T-That is something I definitelycannot allow! I have to think of something…!”

Though I really wanted to cry, I had tohold the tears back. But no matter how much I rolled around on mybed, dwelling on it, not a single plan came to mind.

“Uuuu… I have no time to wastehere, but—Ah.”

In that moment, my eyes fell upon mysmartphone, which was lying atop my desk. A while ago, Onii-chan andI had went to buy one, since it was time for me to upgrade. While Ilooked at it, Onii-chan’s words came back to me: “If you’rehaving trouble that you can’t solve on your own, it’s alwaysbetter to ask for help…”

“…Though, I’m still a bit worriedabout this…”

I wondered if I should ask for helpfrom Himuro-san or Double Peace-san. From what I heard when we werein Akihabara, a certain ‘Towano Chikai LINE’ group exists, andthey exchange information there every day. Since I hadn’t had asmartphone before now, I wasn’t able to participate, but maybe nowwould be fine? If I joined that group, I might be able to get somehelp. Wouldn’t this be a good idea? I’ve reached a dead end fromtrying to do this all on my own, after all. Nodding to myself, Itapped on the ‘join’ button.

‘Ohh, Imouto-san, so you finallyjoined, desu! Welcome! Make yourself at home!’

The moment I joined, I received amessage from Double Peace-san. Shortly after, Himuro-san andSakura-san, even Akino-san and Haruna-san, all welcomed me. So thesefive are the group members, I see.

…Hmm, this seems to be very useful.That reminds me, Kotomi also mentioned something about making agroup, so this must be what she meant.

While thinking about such things, Igreeted everyone. After I had gotten used to chatting for a bit, Igot to the main topic.

‘Right now, Onii-chan is having a bitof trouble with his novel. To be precise, he doesn’t know how theheroine should act to get the protagonist to pay attention to her.What do you think? I’m trying my best to help him out, but thereare certain things that I’m not as good at as everyone else here.’

Of course, this was nothing more thanan excuse. There was no way I could just reveal that I was worryingabout the person Onii-chan likes, nor could I reveal that I was thereal Towano Chikai.

In response to my question, everyonegave their own opinions.

‘I think that there should be somekind of event that would make him be conscious of her,’ saidAkino-san.

‘Since the heroine is a littlesister, an approach by a real little sister is the best way to go!’came from Sakura-san.

‘To make the protagonist conscious ofher, an ero event is necessary, desu!’ was, of course, DoublePeace-san.

‘No, a normal date should be enough,right? And make something special happen during it,’ commentedHaruna-san.

‘The crazier the event, the better.Like a confession. Simple, yet effective,’ Himuro-san said withconfidence.

…Hmm, even though I understand theirideas, none of them are clicking with me. Just as Akino-san said, anevent to make Onii-chan conscious of me is necessary. And of course,the little sister power that I hold is essential… W-Well, if anindecent event is really necessary, then I won’t hesitate, but…And a date isn’t that big of a problem, but make something specialhappen, huh…? Still, a confession is impossible! I know that itwould be the easiest thing to understand, just thinking about it,but…! Auuu…!

Though everyone had their own ideas, itstill felt like something was missing.

‘I think that there are limits withjust the two of them. How about adding a third person?’ saidAkino-san.

‘How about introducing a rival,desu?’ said Double Peace-san.

‘Ah, that might be pretty good,wouldn’t it? If you do that, the protagonist will have no otherchoice but to take notice of her,’ said Haruna-san.

‘Ehhh, but Yuuka only has eyes forOnii-chan. A rival would be out-of-place there,’ said Sakura-san.

‘You just have to make it clear thata rival exists,’ said Himuro-san.

Seeing their exchange, I felt like Ifinally understood, and so I commented with the following.

‘Then, what would be a good rivalcharacter?’

After my question, everyone thoroughlyexplained it to me.

Apparently, a rival character is acharacter, usually male, who holds affection for the heroine of thestory and tries to approach her. The point of adding a rival is toforce the main protagonist to pay more attention to the heroine. Andin order make it more intense, the rival character usually has quitea lot going for him.

“…T-This is it!”

Upon learning about that, I made afist.

“A rival character would be perfectfor the current situation! The sudden appearance of a male characterin front of the little sister! With that, Onii-chan will startpanicking and look at me more…!”

Of course, there isn’t any need forsuch a character inside my novel. They would be nothing but a bother.

…But I can use this in reality!

After thanking everyone for their help,I put away my smartphone and started coming up with a plan of attack.For starters, I can’t just make a rival appear out of thin air.After all, my love is only directed towards Onii-chan, and all theconfessions I’ve received up until now have been nothing but abother. Not to mention, I don’t know any other boys around me whomI could ask, nor do I plan on getting to know any.

…That leaves me no other choice butto make one appear in my novel, huh? Onii-chan loves little sistersas much as he loves my novel. What if a rival character suddenlyappears…? That shouldn’t be allowed, right?

Sooner or later, surely he’ll projectthose feelings of jealousy onto me.

“….’What if such a boy suddenlyappeared in front of Suzuka? Ahh, this isn’t the time to bethinking about the person I like!’… Something like that surelywill happen! Ehe, ehehehe…!”

I-Isn’t this the best plan ever?!

Of course, I have no intention ofactually adding such a character to the novel. I will just have topretend that I’m adding the character in front of Onii-chan. Then,when Onii-chan starts feeling jealous, I will restart my writing,without the rival.

“Now that it’s been decided, it’stime to work on the story!”

With that, I booted up my laptop. Butwhen I went to start typing, I found my hands unable to do so.

“………How exactly do you write arival character?”

Apparently, a character like that hasto have very high specs. But I don’t really know what ‘havinghigh specs’ means. And it certainly doesn’t help that I only haveOnii-chan as my mental image of an ideal man. My father is… well…my father. That only leaves me with Onii-chan, the protagonist, butdifferent.

“…Basically, I’ll be approachedby two Onii-chans…!”

The moment I blurted out those words,countless fantasies began floating into my head. I stood up, doveonto my bed, and went ‘Ehehehe’ while hugging my pillow.

Roll roll roll.

“T-This isn’t good… This isn’tthe time to be losing myself in my fantasies…! I have to hurry upand work on the manuscript…!”

After a few minutes had passed, Imanaged to pull myself back to my senses, and I returned to my work.

“…A serious and kind Onii-chan, whois always cool, but sometimes a bit unreliable… and two of them areapproaching me…! Ahh, which one should I choose here…? Ehe,ehehe, ehehehehe!”

Of course, it was no surprise that myfingers were tapping away on my keyboard at a very high speed.

…Just you wait, Onii-chan! I willdefinitely make you pay attention to me! I will definitely winagainst the person you like!

Part 2:

“…………Nn… Ah?”

When I came to my senses, I was in myown room, not doing anything, just spacing out. Right in front of mewas my PC monitor, which contained a blank writing document.

…Ahh, that’s right, I was going towork on my entry novel for the contest… right?

“…It seems like I’m still notcompletely back to normal,” I gently rubbed my temples.

My head still wasn’t workingproperly, and it felt like my entire body was in a daze. It’s beenlike this for a few days now. I can’t put any energy into anythingat all, whether it be my daily life or my light novel work. If Irelax at all, this is what happens.

…I know the reason. It’s because ofSuzuka’s ‘Beloved person’. Those words felt like a kick to thegut.

Suzuka—my little sister—has aperson she likes. I mean, Suzuka’s a high school student now, and agirl of that age. Falling in love once or twice is completely normal…But,

“………”

…But it gives me an ominous feelingfor some reason. Though I can’t describe it properly, it feelssomething is gripping on my chest… Every time I think about Suzukabeing in love with someone… My head is perfectly fine with it, butmy heart doesn’t want to understand. To sum it up, hearing thatSuzuka was in love with someone came as a complete shock to my heart,and I can’t really accept it.

“…Keep it together, me…” Iwhispered to myself, letting out a sigh.

Even if I know of the fact, it’s notlike I can change it, so why does it bother me so much? I shouldn’tbe this much of a siscon that I feel like this about my real sister…

Thinking that, I sighed once more. Thena knock came from the door.

“O-Onii-chan, do you have some timeright now?”

When Suzuka entered the room, my heartskipped a beat.

…H-Hey, what kind of reaction isthat… Was it because I was just thinking of her?

“W-What is it, Suzuka? Do you needsomething?” I asked as calmly as I could.

When I did, she started fidgeting, and…

“U-Umm… How do I say it…? I wouldlike some advice concerning the next volume…”

For some reason, her cheeks were afaint red colour, and she said this while averting her eyes.

…The next volume… Ahh, her lightnovel, right. Damn it, my head still isn’t working properly.

“Y-Yeah, what is it? What’s theproblem?”

“W-Well, I was a bit troubled abouthow I should move the story forward.”

“Is that so? …Wait, what are weeven talking about?”

“T-That’s… I thought that I wouldintroduce a character who would be a rival to Ryou, and they’d bein love with Yuuka…!”

“………………………………………………………………………Eh?”

My whole body froze.

…What… did she just say…? Ar-rival character? Basically, a rival to the protagonist’s love…?E-Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!?!

W-Why so suddenly?! Your novel is asibling romance little sister novel, right?! Then, why something likethis—

“……!”

I hurriedly swallowed my breath.

…D-Don’t tell me? Suddenlyintroducing a rival character with this timing… There can only beone reason for this, right…? Basically, she’s writing this rivalcharacter based off of the person she likes…?!

Though I had no basis for it at all, Iwas certain that was the case. There should be no other reason forthis genius of an author Towano Chikai to suddenly introduce anothercharacter like this. So this rival character really is Suzuka’s…

“I-I thought of writing somethingwhile keeping that in mind…”

Suzuka handed over the manuscript. Forsome reason, it felt immensely heavy.

“A-And, what kind of developments doyou think would be good after introducing this character?”

For whatever reason, Suzuka wasrestlessly glancing at me with an expectant gaze, but I didn’t havethe time to bother with that. With my mind going blank, I could onlysay a weak “…Could you give me some time?” and dismiss her backto her room. Once she was gone, I started reading the manuscript.

…W-What’s up with him…! Normallyhe’s indecisive, weak-willed, and unreliable, but now he’sactually a kind and warm-hearted person? As if there would be aperson like that out there…!

The more I kept reading, the more thisrival character tried to push his way between the little sisterheroine Yuuka and her older brother. After finishing a chapter ofwhat she handed to me, I let out a heavy sigh. There was definitelyno room to complain about the progression of the story, but…

“…So this is the person who Suzukalikes, huh…?”

There was no use in doubting itanymore. Not after he was so suddenly introduced like that. Andsuddenly, the image of Suzuka and that person walking next to eachother flashed across my mind.

…The person Suzuka likes… Suzuka’sboyfriend…

The moment the word ‘boyfriend’came up in my thoughts, my mood suddenly became heavy, and I felt myenergy leaving my body.

“…T-This isn’t good. Why am Isuddenly getting so depressed…?! A little sister getting aboyfriend is something that’s totally normal…! So why am Ifeeling so sad about it…?!”

Though I tried to cheer myself up withthose words, it actually had the opposite effect, making me feel evenworse.

“Ahhh for crying out loud! It’sabout the novel! She’s writing a light novel here!”

Slapping my cheeks, I once more satdown in front of my PC. Trying to change my mood, I furiously startedtapping away on the keyboard, writing whatever came to mind for myown novel.

…I have my light novels… I have mylight novels…!

And after close to an hour had passed…

“Haaah… Ufff…”

As if I had been running a marathon, Iwas out of breath, and there was sweat running down my forehead.

…T-This might be the first time I’veever written with such focus…

And of course, I immediately went tocheck the results of my hard work.

“W-Why did it turn into a littlesister romcom?! No way! Even though I was planning on writing apsychokinesis battle novel?!” I was completely shocked. Without adoubt, the story right in front of me that I had written was a littlesister romcom.

I was at a loss for words afterrealizing that Suzuka’s situation had this much of an impact on me.Because of that realization, I was so troubled that I couldn’t keepmy body up. I collapsed onto my bed, only to start sliding off of it.

“…What am I doing?”

Filled with grief, I sank down onto thefloor.

“…………Haah, that’s right.”

Completely exhausted, I finally arrivedat a conclusion.

…It was something I should’verealised from the beginning.

“The fact that an older brother saysanything, or even thinks anything, about the male relationships herlittle sister has is weird in and of itself…”

I had thought that it was perfectlyreasonable. I was afraid of actually being influenced by it so much.

To be honest, it wasn’t like theuncomfortable feeling was gone, and my body was still restless, but Iforced myself to put up with it, and convinced myself that this wasthe right conclusion.

“…Here we go, then.”

I finally got up, and left my room withthe manuscript in both hands.

“O-Onii-chan, so you read mymanuscript?”

My destination was Suzuka’s room, ofcourse. I handed her the manuscript back, and she looked at me withexpectant eyes. Though her gaze actually hurt more than anything.

“S-So, what do you think?! What kindof development should I have happen after this?!”

When she asked me this question, Iresponded with the conclusion I had arrived at. Though I was stillresistant to it, I still forced those words out my throat.

“S-Sorry. I couldn’t think ofanything, so you should probably just do what you want to do.”

“…Eh? Ehhhhhhh?!” Suzuka’s eyesopened wide. “Wha—! What do you mean by that?!”

“L-Like I said, I can’t give youany advice, so you should write whatever you think is best… I’msorry that I’m not able to help…”

“N-No way…?! O-Onii-chan is justfine with this kind of development?! You didn’t feel anything aboutme introducing a rival character?!”

Of course I did. And it certainlywasn’t a positive feeling.

…Honestly, if I could, I would wantthis character to be removed immediately. I would never want to haveto read a scene with him in it. From the bottom of my heart, I wishedshe would continue to write her lovey-dovey little sister story likealways. But do I really have the right to say that? Suzuka used theperson she likes as a model for this character, you know? Telling herto get rid of him… Being a fan is one thing, but there’s no way Icould say something so selfish to her, especially as her olderbrother…!

“D-Don’t tell me… Onii-chandoesn’t care at all…? Because he already has a person… hedoesn’t want to bother… with me…?!”

With a face as if she had been stabbedin the heart, her whole body started shaking, and her voice alsoshook. I couldn’t pick up everything she said.

Of course I care…! But…!

“O-Onii-chan… doesn’t want tochoose me… but that person…! In places where I can’t see him…They’re being lovey-dovey…! Uuuuuu…!”

I have no right to speak out againstyour plans. Forcing you to write something you don’t want to, andmaking both you and the story suffer as a result would be way toofrightening…!

I had no other choice but to stayquiet. I didn’t want to hurt her…

“…Uuuuu…! Leave me alone…!!!”Suzuka said without looking me in the eye as she opened the door.

“Sorry…” is all I could mutter asI stepped out of her room. All the while, I was thinking that Ireally am a failure as an older brother, in a lot of ways.

Part 3:

After that, it felt like the wallbetween me and Suzuka had been restored. But it felt slightlydifferent than before. Back then, I had thought that Suzuka justhated me, and it’d felt like she had built up a brick wall betweenus. This time, it felt like like a transparent glass wall.

My eyes could see her, but my hand justcouldn’t reach out. In a way, our distance was far greater thanbefore.

“…Let’s go.”

“Yeah…”

Our communication decreased to thebarest minimum, and it was always accompanied with an awkwardatmosphere. On our route to school, we would merely walk next to eachother, not holding hands or anything. No, we had just been doing itfor research, and there was no longer any reason for it. That wasall.

Those days continued, and we lost thepositive attitude we both had before.

…For me, the reason was of coursebecause I was still wracking my brain to figure out the person Suzukalikes. No matter how much and and how hard I thought about it, Icouldn’t come to accept it. Even though I knew that I shouldn’tfeel like this, it wasn’t a problem of reasoning.

And Suzuka still looked like she waspondering something. Maybe it was because we were two people whoformed one Towano Chikai, and she was mad at me for running away fromthat role—or maybe not. It looked like it might have been somethingcompletely different.

…She’s probably thinking about theperson she likes. Or maybe she’s thinking about her next volume…Whatever it is, I can’t do anything about it.

“Hey Yuu, you seem to be in a badmood recently. And so is Suzuka-san… Did something happen?”

Apparently, it wasn’t difficult atall for the people around us to pick up on that change.

‘I heard from Mai, desu. If you’reworrying about something, feel free to consult me.’

‘I don’t really know what happened,but cheer up, Sensei! Sakura will be your ally if anything happens!’

‘As your pupil, I cannot overlook thefact that my teacher is not feeling up to it. I can be your senpai inlife.’

‘I don’t really care about you, butSuzuka-san is acting weird, too. What happened?’

And so, I received countless emails andphone calls like this. But of course, consulting with anyone was notan option, and I had no other choice but to send cover-up responses.

Time went on, until—

“Senpai? I would like some advice, socould you accompany me for a bit?”

Nikaido-san called out to me with aserious expression on her face.

Part 4:

It was after classes, in the corner ofthe school building, and I was following Nikaido-san.

“Of course, I would like to talkabout Suzuka. Recently, Suzuka has clearly been under the weather.When I asked her about it, she told me it was nothing… So I thoughtthat maybe Nagami-senpai would know something.”

…I thought as much.

Since I was anticipating thisdevelopment, I immediately knew how to answer.

“No, I don’t really know myself.”

“So you don’t know what the problemis, even though you live under the same roof?”

“There are some things you don’tknow even if you live under the same roof.”

Nikaido-san seemed a bit surprised bymy response. After that, Nikaido-san kept questioning me, and I keptgiving vague answers in response.

“…I hadn’t planned on tellingSenpai about this, but…”

Finally, Nikaido-san looked like shehad made up her mind about something, and she continued.

“Are you aware that Suzuka has aperson she likes?”

“Ehooo?!”

I have to admit that my fake reactionwas about as weird as it could have possibly been, but luckilyNikaido-san bought the act.

“I asked her directly about it. Andshe told me that she has someone she likes… Does Senpai have anyidea who this person might be?”

“N-No?! I-I-I have no clue?!”

“…Is that so? To be honest, I’vebeen speculating that this might be the reason why she seems so offthese past few days. Maybe she’s troubled because of her love,”Nikaido-san said, her face turning slightly red.

…Ahhh, that was dangerous… But nowthat she mentions it, Nikaido-san was actually the one who askedSuzuka so directly.

“I-Is that so? I had no idea,” Itried to answer as calmly as possible, but…

“Are you really fine with that,Senpai?”

Nikaido-san suddenly asked me that witha straight face.

“F-Fine with what?”

“I’m talking about Suzuka havingsomeone that she likes. She’s just a first-year high schoolstudent, you know? I-I personally think that she’s acting a bit toofast here!”

“You think so too?!”

Ah—C-Calm down… Though it seemsthat Nikaido-san doesn’t think so positively about Suzuka having acrush either… A-Again, I shouldn’t be feeling like this!

“Senpai, do you have any sort of ideawho the person she likes is?”

“N-No, I have no idea.”

To be honest, I really want toknow— I had to stop myself from blurting that out.

“Is that so…? If we don’t dosomething, she might be taken away…!”

“C-Calm down. This isn’t somethingthat we should decide for her.”

That’s what I decided, after thinkingabout it for such a long time.

“W-What are you saying! Are youreally fine with Suzuka being taken away by some unknown man?!”

Of course not! —is what Iwanted to reply, but I had to force myself to keep my mouth shut.

…I really want to change that! Butthere isn’t any way an older brother like me should say somethinglike that! I should just watch over her and make sure that shedoesn’t get hurt! Those are the limits to our sibling relationship,after all! Suzuka’s happiness is my utmost priority!

“…A-Anyway, whether or not thereason for her current mood is because of said person, I cannotignore the fact that my friend Suzuka is like this. That’s why I’masking you, Senpai. Can’t you try to cheer her up from your end?”

“Huh? M-Me?”

“Yes. I think that the effect wouldbe greater if it comes from Senpai. This isn’t the first time thatshe’s felt down, right?”

N-No no no, there’s no way I could dothat. Not when it concerns my little sister’s love life.

“…I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Wha—?! W-Why, Senpai!? It’s yourlittle sister we’re talking about, you know?! Since you’re herolder brother, there should be something…!”

“I can’t do it. This time, I can’thelp her out…”

Nikaido-san’s eyes opened wide, as ifshe couldn’t believe what I had just said. But finally, shenarrowed her eyes, looking at me in disgust.

“I misjudged you, Senpai! I thoughtthat at least you would…!”

“…Whatever you say, I won’tchange my mind.”

“…! Suzuka said that Senpai was, ifit came down to it, very kind and reliable, you know?! And I feltlike you were undeniably similar to the older brother featured inyour novel…!”

“Eh? Y-You read that…?”

“Y-Yes, I bought it and read itmyself! It really had a great impact on me, in a lot of ways…! Butsetting that aside for now, didn’t Senpai also save me? I thoughtyou would be a wonderful person like the protagonist of that story…!”

“…I’m nothing like that idealolder brother.”

“…! Yes, that’s right.”

With a “Fine, then,” she cut theconversation. After glaring at me for some time, she turned her backto me.

“…I really thought that you wouldbe a perfect older brother… What a disappointment.”

Leaving only those words behind, sheleft me alone. After watching her until she disappeared, I let out asigh and rested my back against the wall behind me.

“I can’t help it, can I…?”

Yes, there is nothing I can do in thissituation. I could only stare blankly up at the sky, letting my mindgo blank. Even after several minutes went by, Nikaido-san’s finalwords still rang in my mind.

“…Disappointment, huh…?”

Of course. An older brother who’sunable to do something while his little sister is suffering is acomplete failure. But I knew the reason I couldn’t do anything, andthere was nothing to do.

…Even if it doesn’t sit well withme, no matter how much I treasure my little sister, I can do nothingbut accept her feelings. If I want to place her happiness as my firstpriority, I can only remain quiet here.

“That’s right…”

To be honest, I wish I could have toldher my honest opinions on that day when she came to ask me foradvice. But now, it’s too late. There’s nothing I can do anymore.While ignoring the painful feeling in my chest, I’ve been driftingfurther and further away from Suzuka.

“Though she’s probably gone homealready, I might as well go check…”

Letting out a sigh, I made my waytowards the first-year classrooms. But when I arrived, I couldn’tfind either Suzuka or her friends Nikaido-san or Shiina-san.

…Did she go home already?

“Ah, isn’t that Nagami-san’solder brother?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

“Let me see!”

The various female students from herclass quickly spotted me and came storming at me.

“What is your business here~?”

“Maybe he’s here because ofNagami-san?”

“Those siblings don’t look alike atall…”

How noisy… And hey, what was thatlast comment about?

“Umm… Is Suzuka here? Or did she gohome already?”

Still, I thought that asking wouldn’thurt.

“…Umm…”

“Hey, what should we do about this?”

“Would it be fine to tell him?”

And I received a ratherobnoxious-sounding response.

“This just came up a few minutesago…”

“An boy nobody knew came here, andcalled Nagami-san to the back of the school building.”

“It’s gotta be a confession,right?”

………What?

………A boy suddenly called Suzukato the back of the school building… A confession?!

In the next instant, I was running atfull speed, ignoring the words of those around me. I was running downthe hallway that was filled with students on their way home afterclasses.

I only knew that I was heading towardsthe back of the school building. I didn’t know what I was going todo when I got there. I didn’t know, but my legs kept moving as fastas they could.

“Haaaa… Haaa…! Dang it…!”

While my body was plagued by roughbreathing, the uncomfortable feeling inside my chest grew moreintense.

…No, this isn’t just discomfort.It’s… denial. It fills my heart. It fills my head.

Suzuka is being confessed to by a boy.Of course. Given Suzuka’s beauty and her personality, that shouldcome as no surprise. And she’s been confessed to countless times.

…But what if…? What if this boy isactually the person Suzuka likes?!

“…Haaa… Haaa…! Dang it…!”

Inside my head, that image came up. Nomatter how many times I tried to purge my mind of those thoughts,they came back, again and again. Suzuka and that unknown person,standing face to face. Suzuka looking at him, with flushed cheeks andher usual cute smile, and him returning a good-looking grin. Andafter the boy says the words Suzuka wants to hear, she starts cryingtears of joy. The personification of happiness. Finally, thatgood-looking boy puts his hands on her shoulders, in response towhich she softly nods, closing her eyes and lifting her head upwards.And then… Then…!

Twitch!

“As if I would let you dothaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

I let out an enraged scream, picking upeven more speed.

Ahhh, get out of my way already! —Imentally berated the students walking down the hallway as I brushedpast them. Inside my head, I could only think about Suzuka. Suzuka’sappearance, the same one I had been seeing since she was just a smallchild. I still have memories of her.

Chanting out ‘Onii-chan, Onii-chan’while clinging to my back, happy as she could be, when she was stillan infant.

Suzuka as a kindergartner, afterfalling and scraping her knee, saying ‘Onii-chan I love you!’while I embraced her while she was crying.

Suzuka in grade school, with herbackpack on her back, stretching herself as tall as she could whilesaying ‘I’m an adult now.’ I laughed so hard that I cried,while her face turned red from embarrassment.

And finally, Suzuka in middle schoolwhen she showed me a smile I hadn’t seen in years, after we’dfinally made up…

With all those memories flooding mymind, I finally understood just how much of an important existenceSuzuka was to me. That was exactly why—

“Not my Suzuka…! Don’t you darelay a hand on my most precious little sister! I don’t know who youare, but I will never forgiveyouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!”

Completely ignoring my sense of publicdecency and the stares of the other students around me, I screamedfrom the bottom of my heart.

I’m selfish? I’m egoistic? …Yeah,I know! You got a problem with that?! Ahhhhhh, I want to hit the mefrom a few minutes ago straight in the face…!

What’s up with that “As an olderbrother, I won’t say anything about my little sister’srelationships”!?

What’s up with “I have to acceptthe fact that my little sister has someone she likes”?!

All that lip service can go rot inhell! I’ll throw away all my pride!

“I… I…!”

I will never allow anyone to takeSuzuka away from me!!!

That was what I stated, loud and clear.The ‘As her older brother’ in my brain was erased for the moment.I didn’t want her to be taken away. And it didn’t matter ifSuzuka had feelings for him. Even if she hates me… even if sheloathes me, until I die! I won’t lie to myself anymore.

“…Dammit! Wait for me…!”

Dashing out of the school building, Imade my way to the back of the building, surrounded by trees. And…

“There she is!”

Finally, I spotted Suzuka, who wasstanding still. And she was alone.

“I made it intiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!”

“Kyaa?!”

Letting out a scream, I jumped out infront of Suzuka. Because of my sudden appearance, Suzuka’s bodytwitched in shock. Her eyes went round, and she seemed lost as towhat was happening.

“O-Onii-chan?! W-W-W-Why are youhere?!”

Ignoring her outburst, I took deepbreaths, looking around us.

“Ufff… Haaah… T-That bastardisn’t here yet, it seems…!”

“E-Ehh…? What do you…?”

Who could blame her? She had beencalled out here by a boy, only for her older brother to suddenlyappear before her… Well, that doesn’t matter right now.

“…Haaaah… haaah… Alright! We’regoing home, Suzuka!”

“Excuse me?!”

She was completely bewildered. Thoughshe looked a bit hesitant, I grabbed her hand and started walking.

“O-Onii-chan?! W-W-W-Wait a moment!”

“I won’t.”

“Wha—?! What are you saying?! Whyare you here in the first place…!”

Since Suzuka was fighting against mygrip, I had no choice but to turn around. When I did, I saw thatSuzuka was glaring at me with a flushed face.

“A-Anyways, please let go of my handfor now…! My heart is…!”

“I don’t want to.”

“Ehhh?! W-Why?!”

“Because I don’t want to let go.”

“T-That’s…! Auauauauuuuuuu…!”

Though she was crazily blushing fromear to ear, she still didn’t stop resisting, and she managed tofree her hand.

“W-What’s even going on…! You’realways acting weird, but today it’s way more than usual, you know?!Please explain yourself properly!”

“That can wait until later. For now,we’re getting away from here.”

“And why is that!? I am waiting forsomeone here, so I can’t leave this place! …And why is Onii-chanhere in the first place?!” Suzuka started rattling off countlessquestions at me.

But without responding to any of them,I countered with a question of mine.

“You were called here by a boy,right?”

“Eh?”

Confronted by that question, Suzuka’seyes went wide.

“…That might be true, but why isthat important right now? No, why does Onii-chan know of that?!”

“That doesn’t matter right now.Rather than that, getting confessed to by this boy is the mainproblem here.”

“C-Confe—?!”

…She didn’t expect it? She reallycan be oblivious sometimes.

“I can’t allow that to happen.That’s why we’re going home. Now.”

“P-Please wait a moment! What do youmean by that?!”

“I’ll give you the details later,so let’s just get awa—”

“N-No! If you don’t explain it tome properly, right now, I won’t go home!”

I once more reached out with my hand.But Suzuka rejected me, pushing my hand away.

It makes sense that she wouldn’t besatisfied with just this. But even if I have to drag her away byforce, I’m not going to let her meet this boy.

But of course, whether or not Suzukaunderstands my intentions, doing that would surely cause her to getmad.

“W-What do you even mean by that?!A-A boy… A confession… what are you even talking about?!”

Suzuka continued glaring at me.

“This doesn’t have anything to dowith Onii-chan, so don’t butt in!”

“Of course it has to do with me! Asif I could ignore the fact that you’re getting confessed to! And bythe boy you’re interested in, no less!”

Those words brought Suzuka to hersenses, and she just stared blankly at me for a few seconds.

“Eh…? O-Onii-chan? Aren’t youhaving a misunderstanding here…?”

“As if! …You don’t have to hideit. I already know. That’s why I can’t just ignore what’s goingon here!”

“Wha—Ehhh?! E-Even if that were thecase, what does it matter?! Onii-chan isn’t involved in this in theslightest!”

“Like I said! I do—”

But before I could finish my sentence,Suzuka interrupted me. “Also! Onii-chan doesn’t care about me atall, right?!”

Her words forced my mouth shut inconfusion.

“…Eh?”

In that moment, I couldn’t evencomprehend what Suzuka had said.

“…T-That’s right! Onii-chandoesn’t care about me at all! He never discusses anything withme…!”

“H-Hey, Suzuka?”

“Even so, suddenly… suddenly sayingthings like this! To Onii-chan, I’m nothing more than a plain oldlittle sister, so just leave me alone already!” Suzuka averted hereyes.

I had no idea what Suzuka was saying.It seemed like she had a serious misunderstanding about something.But…

“…………!”

In the next moment, I saw tears formingin Suzuka’s eyes, and something in my head snapped.

“Of course I care about you!”

I was already screaming that aloudbefore I realized it.

“O-Onii-chan?”

“Thinking that Suzuka was beingconfessed to by a boy…! And I was sure that you would accept…! Mybody moved on its own…!”

I couldn’t properly put my feelingsinto words. Maybe something inside me was stopping me from properlyexplaining it. And when I realized that, I decided to let out myhonest feelings, no matter what people would think about me…

“I…! Just thinking about yougetting a boyfriend made me feel horrible! So please, don’t get aboyfriend!”

This was the plain, unpolished truth,and the worst confession possible.

“………Eh?”

There was a moment of complete silence.A perplexed expression came across Suzuka’s face, and…

“E-Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

Suzuka let out a confused scream,blinking at me violently.

“T-That is… Ehhh?! O-Onii-chandoesn’t want me… a boyfriend?! And he would hate that?! You don’twant me to get one?! Auuuuu…!”

Suzuka’s face went as red as atomato, and she started flailing her hands violently. I had neverseen her like this before, but I hardly even noticed. The dam holdingmy heart back broke, and the words kept flowing out.

“That’s right! Just imagining yougetting a boyfriend made my chest hurt! I know I don’t have theright to say it as your older brother, but I cannot allow that!”

I couldn’t stop myself anymore. Allthe feelings I had kept bottled up inside me wouldn’t stop comingout.

“O-O-Onii-chan?!”

“Sorry, Suzuka! But I have to tellyou this right now!”

I gazed straight into her eyes. Inresponse she took a step back, perplexed.

“Please don’t get a boyfriend!Don’t accept his confession! I know that I’m being selfish, andegoistic… But I can’t stand it! Just thinking that you would betaken away from me… the loneliness is eating away at my heart!!!”

“B-But… Eh… Uhm…! Fuaa…Nya….!”

“Those… are my honest feelings…!”

My head was a mess, my breathing wasrough, but it was now or never. Of course, I knew how ridiculous mydemands were. I’m being egoistic, completely disregarding Suzuka’sfeelings, and quite frankly, my feelings are disgusting. Really, itwas the worst confession ever. But I’d made up my mind.

Even if this wall between Suzuka and Ikeeps growing taller, even if she hates me more than she did beforewe made up, I want to stay honest to my own feelings.

…I have to be honest…! Sorry. I’mso disgusting that I even made you cry. Suzuka… I’m sorry… forbeing the worst possible older brother you could have! I really am aworthless, hardcore siscon…! There’s no helping me, I know it…!

But let me say this… Please, put upwith my selfishness—!

I took a deep breath, and said thefollowing.

“I…! I don’t want you to be takenaway from me by anyone else! So please, don’t leave me alone! Staymy little sister forever!!!”

“——————Okay.”

A quiet voice replied to my screams.

Suzuka was making an unbelievable face,looking up at me with her hands on her chest like she was in trance.Even I didn’t know what I had just said, but it looked like she hadjust been confessed to by someone she loved. She made this kind ofreaction to my selfishness. And…

“…………Yes, I understand…”

Those were her exact words. MaybeSuzuka herself didn’t know what she was saying. Maybe she was lostin this bizarre situation, and was just giving an answer in order toend it. But her gaze, filled with affirmation, was impossible tomisunderstand.

…S-Seriously…? Suzuka’s acceptingthis ridiculous request…?

The moment I realized that…

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

For some reason, at the back of theschool, where it should’ve been only me and Suzuka, deafeninglyloud screams suddenly reached our ears.

“Uwa?! W-What is it?!”

“Kyaaa?! O-Onii-chan?!”

Because of the shock, Suzuka and Ijumped at each other, tightly hugging each other. Looking around in apanic, we saw countless other students appearing from the trees’shadows, or sticking their heads out of the windows, and they allwere looking at us with eyes of admiration.

…W-What is this?! What justhappened?!

“I-I’m really moved!”

“What was that?!”

“Amazing… I don’t know what justhappened, but amazing…”

“Uwaa, that really got my heartpumping…!”

“This is bad, really bad!”

“Waaahh… Tears… Tears are comingout…”

…And so on. They were all sayingweird things like that.

The excited boys, the girls on theverge of tears… not to mention the people with their smartphonesout… What’s happening?!

And I wasn’t the only one confused bythe situation. Still in my arms, Suzuka was looking around in shock.

“W-Why are you all here?!”

A boy came walking towards us.

…Ah, so this is the guy who calledSuzuka out here!

I glared at him, ready to tell him off,but then I realized it.

“…Don’t tell me; Nikaido-san?”

“Yes, that is indeed Kaede.”

Suzuka answered my question, thepersonification of calmness.

Ah, I thought so… Wait.

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?! Why is shewearing those clothes?!”

…She’s wearing boys’ clothing!And why is she here?!

Before I could ask for clarification,the people around us started calling Nikaido-san a ‘new rival’ orsomething.

…Ahhh, for crying out loud, can youplease not make this situation any more complicated!

“…Onii-chan, Kaede, let’s run!”

Suzuka grabbed both my andNikaido-san’s hands, pulling us along. Though I had a hard timekeeping up, I really wanted to get away from the crowd of people.Finally, we turned a corner of the school building with no peoplearound us, and Suzuka finally halted.

“Phew… This should be fine fornow.”

“Haaah… Haaah… What was thatabout!” My shoulders were heaving up and down as I gasped for air.

When I checked, Nikaido-san had it justas bad.

…No matter how I look at her, shereally looks like a boy. She’s wearing boy’s clothing andconcealing her long hair… What’s going on?

“S-Suzuka, what exactly is themeaning of this? Why were there so many students…?”

“Before that, let us ask Kaede abouther appearance,” Suzuka calmly stated. In response, Nikaido-sanswallowed her breath.

She probably realized that she stilllooked like a boy.

“And also ask her why she called meto the back of the school building.”

“T-That’s…!”

“Wait wait wait?! So thatgood-looking boy who called Suzuka out here was actuallyNikaido-san?! And Suzuka, you knew about that?!”

In response to my confused reaction,Suzuka replied with a calm “Yes.” No, no, no!

“I don’t know why, but Kaede,wearing boy’s clothing, suddenly came to the classroom and told meto come to the back of the school building. She left immediatelyafterwards, so I didn’t have time to ask for details.”

“…So that’s why the rumour abouta confession was going around… I came when I heard about that…”

“Eh, a rumour?!”

Unexpectedly, Nikaido-san was thesurprised one.

…Of course you stood out if youdressed like that! Ah, so those other people heard about it and hidin the shadows!

“Since I couldn’t just leave itlike that, I had no other choice but to make my way there. I thoughtI could ask Kaede about her plans…”

Both Suzuka and I looked atNikaido-san.

“I-I didn’t…! I didn’t mean forit to end up like this…!”

While she was lowering her head, Ispotted someone else walking towards us.

“Ah, there she is, Kaede~ Really,where did you go all of a sudden? Was the operation a success?”

Another friend of Suzuka’s,Shiina-san, calmly approached.

…Operation?

“Ah, Suzu-chan and her older brother?Ah? What happened in the end, I wonder…?”

“…Kotomi, what exactly is thisoperation about?”

“Eh? We had planned to have Kaedeconfess to Suzu-chan. It was going to be such a lovey-doveyoperation.”

“Ah, Kotomi!”

Nikaido-san hurriedly covered upShiina-san’s mouth, but it was too late.

…Confess…? Lovey-dovey operation?I’m getting a really bad feeling about this…

“…Kaede, I would like anexplanation,” Suzuka turned towards Nikaido-san and fixed her witha glare.

In response to being called out likethat, Nikaido-san twitched and sighed in defeat.

…And so she started her explanation.

“I-I just couldn’t accept the factthat Suzuka was going to be going out with a boy…! I didn’t knowwhat to do, so I came up with this plan to make you go out with mewhile I was disguised as a boy. I didn’t want you to be taken awayfrom me…”

“U-Uwaa…”

“K-Kaede, that’s…”

It was already bad at this point. Howdo I say it…? It was a horrifically bad idea. Even Suzuka didn’tknow how to react.

“A-And that’s why I asked Kotomi tohook me up with a suitable outfit…” Nikaido-san said, taking offher wig.

…That reminds me, Suzuka had told methat Shiina-san was very proficient at making male costumes becauseshe was a member of the theatre club.

“It worked fine at first. I calledSuzuka here, but… in a stroke of bad luck, the cloth to hide mychest became loose, so I had to fix it, and when I came back,Nagami-senpai and all the other students were already closing in onSuzuka…”

And so she was unable to do anything.

…So I was the thorn in her operation,huh…

“Haaaah… You really are…”

After hearing all of the circumstances,Suzuka let out an exasperated sigh. Seeing that, Nikaido-san’s bodyseemed to become smaller, and tears started building up in her eyes.

“Now now, Suzu-chan, don’t be likethat. Kaede was worried about you, which was why she did something soidiotic. Really, her thoughts and actions are always so extreme. Shealways jumps right in without thinking.”

S-Shiina-san really doesn’t holdback, does she?

“You really are an idiot… Haaah…”

“Uuuu, Suzuka…”

“However—”

In response, Suzuka gently wrapped herarms around Nikaido-san.

“…Thank you very much, Kaede.”

“Eh? S-Suzuka?”

“You felt like you had to do thissince you were worried about me, right?”

“B-But in the end, I made everythingworse…”

“Yes, you’re right. There’snothing good I can say about that.”

“I’m… I’m really sorry.”

“But Kaede, your feelings got across.I can’t be mad at you if you just did it for my own wellbeing. Andthanks to that…”

Softly stroking Nikaido-san’s head, Isaw Suzuka glance over at me for a second. Though it was probably myimagination, her cheeks seemed to be faintly flushed.

“A-Anyways, don’t worry. I wouldn’tgo out with some boy who I’ve never seen before.”

“S-Suzuka…! Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Nikaido-san let loose, not holding backher tears any longer. In response, Suzuka continued to gently strokeher head. Shiina-san watched over them with a gentle expression. Ihoped that their friendship would continue like this.

“…She really has good friends.”

That was why I happened to speak thosewords aloud.

When I did, Suzuka turned over to smileat me for a second, only to turn back, and say…

“Kaede… Thank you very much.”

Part 5:

That day on the way home, it was justSuzuka and me. On those streets illuminated by the setting sun, I waswalking next to her, still flustered because of what had happenedearlier.

…Just remembering it makes my faceburn up… But I don’t regret it… I really don’t, but I can’thelp but wonder what will happen now that all the other students sawour exchange. And the main problem is Suzuka. I didn’t get a chanceto ask earlier, but I wonder how she really feels. Was that ‘Okay’back then really her honest feelings?

“O-Onii-chan.”

Of course, as if she had known what Iwas thinking, Suzuka called out to me.

“W-What is it?”

“W-Why did Onii-chan do somethinglike that?”

It seems like Suzuka didn’t plan onbrushing it off. But asking now that all the tension is gone is abit…

However, before I could come up with ananswer, Suzuka continued.

“S-Since Onii-chan has a person helikes… should he really care about me…?”

“……Excuse me?”

I was totally thrown off-guard by thatquestion.

“A-A person I like…? Me?! How didyou reach that conclusion?!”

“D-Don’t try to cover it up!”

…No no no, I really have no idea whatyou’re talking about!

“I… I actually heard thatconversation! On that day, when you were talking to Kaede, you saidthat you had a person you liked!”

…Ahhh, that’s why! I see, so sheheard me back then.

I did say that. Loud and clear. But…

“That was just a lie I said tosatisfy Nikaido-san.”

“…A-A lie?! No way! Why would therebe a need for Onii-chan to lie like that!?”

“That’s because Nikaido-san thoughtthat the two of us had a suspicious relationship, and she wasdoubting me. So I thought that she might be satisfied if I told herthat I had a person I liked. Someone other than you, of course.”

“Eh, ehhhh?!”

Suzuka was really shocked.

“Then what about all of my hardshipsup until now?!” She started saying some incomprehensible things,but I had no idea how to respond.

But, now that we’re on the subject,what about the person Suzuka likes? Although I was lying when I hadsaid it, the fact that she has a person she likes could be the truth.But then why did she give me that ‘Okay’ reply before?

I mustered up all the courage I had andasked her.

“Hey Suzuka, you have a person youlike, right…? So why did you put up with that unreasonable requestof mine…?”

“A-A person I like?! W-W-W-W-Why doyou…?!”

As Suzuka started panicking, her faceas red as a ripe apple, I calmly explained.

“Well, it’s something similar toyou… When we were in Akiba that time, you were talking withNikaido-san at the park, right? I overheard you back then… sayingthat you had someone you liked…”

“Ehhh?! Y-You heard that?!”

Her eyes opened wide, and she followedup with a “Y-You’re wrong about that!”, but a moment later, shestopped walking.

“…W-Wait a second… Isn’t thisthe perfect chance to tell Onii-chan about my feelings…?!”

She suddenly started talking to herselfin a quiet voice. I couldn’t understand her at all.

“…Umm, Suzuka-san?”

“Yesh!? Ehhh, umm… Well!”

She took a deep breath, and looked atme with a serious face.

“I-I…! T-The person I like…!”

And, steeling her resolve, she triedher hardest to tell me something.

“T-The person I like is…! I-It’sO-Onii-chan…!”

“…Eh?”

But…

“—who I have to always look outfor, so I have no time for love?!”

“…Eh?! T-Then what about thatconversation with Nikaido-san?!”

“T-That was… About Onii-chan—Ilied so you wouldn’t bear the brunt of any weird rumours! That’sit!”

“A-A lie…? So that’s what itwas?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right! It was just alie! There will be a scene similar to this in my next volume, so Ijust thought that I would answer like that!”

“…Seriously? Okay…”

When I heard that, I felt all thestrength drain from my limbs.

…I-Is that so? So Suzuka doesn’thave anyone she likes…

For some reason, Suzuka lookeddepressed, and she held her head in her hands, saying “Why am Ilike this…?”, but the only thing I could do was let out arelieved sigh… Thank God.

“T-Then why did I go and do of allthat?”

“That’s my line!”

For some reason, I made her mad.

…A-And I said all those disgustingthings for nothing!

“I-I’m sorry, Suzuka!”

“W-What’s wrong all of a sudden?!”

“I was being selfish when I asked younot to get a boyfriend! But those were my real feelings! O-Of course,only in the sense that I treasure you as a little sister, so therewasn’t anything weird behind my words…!”

In the end, I’m never going lay ahand on Suzuka, but I’m still enough of a siscon that I don’twant to be separated from her.

“I-It’s fine!”

To my surprise, Suzuka didn’treprimand me or anything.

“I-I know that Onii-chan didn’tmean it in a weird way. But Onii-chan is still a helplesslittle-sister-lover, right?! Ehehehe…!”

…I know that I totally deserve this,but I want to die…!

“R-Really, Onii-chan is such atroublesome person! Ehe, ehehehe, ehehehehehehe!”

“Uuu… Keep it easy on me, I beg ofyou…”

“But you don’t have to pay it thatmuch mind.”

“……Eh?”

When she said that, I lifted up my headand looked directly at Suzuka. And with the brightest smile she couldmanage, she said the following.

“After all, I would hate it ifOnii-chan got a girlfriend.”

The moment she spoke those words, sherealized what she had just said, and her face went red in an instant.

“O-Of course, only as a littlesister, okay?!”

With those words, she averted her face.

…U-Umm… So basically, Suzuka isn’tmad at me, she’s even forgiven me for my selfishness, and she mightactually be quite the broco—

“…W-What are you thinking about?”

“N-Nothing at all!!”

Suzuka’s displeased voice brought meback to reality, and both of us kept walking in silence.

“……”

“………”

Finally, I remembered the last thingthat was on my mind.

Me being a stand-in. That the two of uswere Towano Chikai. Thinking about this, I called out to her again.

“…Hey, Suzuka, about thedevelopment in the next volume.”

In response, Suzuka said a calm “Iknow.”

“In our story, we only need Onii-chanand a little sister.”

When I said that, her radiant smilethat was focused on me was so heartwarming that I really thought itwas the cutest smile she had ever shown me.

…Weirdly enough, that smile made myheart beat the fastest it had ever beaten…